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Arthouse ousts Dunbar!

Arthouse, Austin, has approved a new operating budget for next year, balanced through staff reductions, specifically the sudden elimination of Elizabeth Dunbar as Associate director/Curator. It just happens that Dunbar co-organized the recent, controversial showing of Michelle Handelman’s Dorian, a cinematic perfume. Future programming will be cobbled together from guest curators and traveling exhibitions, advised by Arthouse’s exhibitons committee. Arthouse’s recent institutional spending spree may include glass blocks, felt chairs, and acres of exotic tzatziki wood, but apparently does not extend to beloved curators.

As someone who has worked in a museum capacity as a curator, I find it disheartening that art spaces are cutting curatorial jobs to fit a tight budget. These are supposed to be exhibition spaces, so it’s disheartening to see the in-house curatorial staff get the short shift.

This is absurd- truly, how are they going to get traveling curators to put any cohesion into their program? And it’s also a red flag to all of those potential guest curators, a red flag saying “you probably won’t do anything worth paying for”.